Pedestrian traffic signals are presently in widespread use. Most pedestrian traffic signals include a rectangular-shaped housing having a face plate with an upper portion bearing the legend "DONT" and a lower portion bearing the legend "WALK". The pedestrian traffic signal is usually located at the end of a crosswalk and when the lower portion of the face plate is illuminated, the "WALK" legend appears to indicate to pedestrians that they may enter the cross-walk. However, when both the upper and lower portions are illuminated, both legends "DONT" and "WALK" appear to indicate to pedestrians that they may not enter the cross-walk.
For years the pedestrian traffic signal units have been mounted in supporting poles by a complex assembly of pipes and junction boxes which are not only heavy and expensive, but which make the installation of the signal units on the poles a difficult and arduous operation which entails holding the units in the air while appropriate fittings are installed and connected together.
The two-piece mounting bracket of the present invention represents a simple and economical means for mounting a pedestrian signal unit on an upright pole. As explained briefly above, one piece of the mounting bracket is affixed to the pole, and a second piece is mounted on the side of the signal unit. The pedestrian traffic signal unit is mounted on the pole merely by hooking female hinge portions of one of the bracket pieces over male hinge portions of the other, so that the two bracket pieces are fitted together in a hinged relationship. The electric wires from the interior of of the pole are then connected to the terminals of the terminal strip in the second bracket piece, and the pedestrian traffic signal unit is turned in a direction to close the two pieces of the mounting bracket. The locking bolts emanating from inside the pedestrian signal are then inserted through the two pieces to hold the mounting bracket securely in its closed position.
The construction of the mounting bracket of the invention is such that the electrical connections within its interior are completely sheltered from the weather. The mounting bracket, moreover, is constructed to permit limited turning of the pedestrian traffic signal unit and the mounting bracket about the pole to square up the signal unit with the crosswalk before the bolts mounting the bracket on the pole are tightened.
The mounting bracket of the invention enables the pedestrian traffic signal unit easily and conveniently to be mounted on the pole, and it also enables the signal unit to be easily removed from the pole for repair or replacement purposes. The removal of the signal unit is achieved merely by opening the unit, removing the two locking bolts from the mounting bracket, swinging the unit about the hinge axis of the mounting bracket to open the two pieces of the mounting bracket, disconnecting the wires from the terminal strip inside the mounting bracket, and unhooking the unit and second piece of the mounting bracket from the first piece of the bracket.